Giustino Fortunato, l'Unità italiana e il Mezzogiorno

This article reconstructs Giustino Fortunato's cultural and political iter, his interest in the problems of Italy's Mezzogiorno, and his part in the cultural current of «.meridionalismo». Fortunato spoke of the problem of «two Italics» and «two civilizations», and his critique was directed towards the ruling class in southern Italy, and in Naples in particular. In his articles La città e la plebe and La camorra (1878-79), Fortimato analyzed the tragic conditions of the popular masses in Naples, and the link that existed between this social context, the growth of criminal organizations, and the responsibilities of the ruling classes. A member of the Italian Parliament starting in 1880, Fortunato took increasingly liberalist positions. His encounter with Gaetano Salvemini and his contributions to the new review L'Unità marked the final important moments in a very interesting cultural and political iter.